Sunday, August 8, 2010

Rob Clough on Kevin H. Clough gets at what's great about Ganges: the philosophical content, formal imagination and inventiveness, and visual charm.

Sam Lipsyte on Daniel Clowes's Wilson. Lipsyte's a great novelist and carefully engages Clowes's work, especially the dialogue. He avoids the kinds of critical generalizations that flatten a text (and make a reviewer look careless), and instead sees Wilson's complexities and humanity. A very well-written review.

Tim Seidler and Jon Hazell on Herb Trimpe (a letter published in 1970 in The Incredible Hulk #131). Though they are critical of Trimpe -- an artist I like (his Hulk covers of this era are masterpieces) -- their visual trope-based criticism is eye-opening. The writers clearly don't like what they see, but they back up their opinion in an effective and entertaining way. I just bought 40 1969-1972 Marvel comics, and this letter has me reading them in a new way, paying far more attention to how artists stage aggression, violence, and fight scenes, key features of these comics. You never know where you'll find interesting criticism . . . [click to enlarge]:

Saturday, August 7, 2010

I scanned this clipping because it reminded me a little of events depicted in Wally Gropius. Some fellow stole a 1.4 million dollar tax refund check--doesn't say how--from a real estate magnate--apparently the 45th wealthiest man alive--then impersonated said magnate to deposit the check at a bank. The funniest part is the suspect listing "smoke shop" as his occupation on the paperwork.Also in the news, I recently appeared on the radio program Inkstuds. I note this mostly because my coworker Jim Ellwanger created 4 amazing 5-minute medleys from his collection of radio jingles for the breaks. Listen to the battery in my phone die!